I’ve read a lot of books, but there are only a handful of books I’ve read more than once.

There are two books, however, that I reread at least once a year, often when I’m feeling the need to refresh the reservoir of creative energy. The first is Stephen King’s “On Writing,” which I consider to be an all-time Classic of the Ages. I don’t write fiction (at least not on purpose) but I’ve never found another book that offers such sensible, concise advice on how to become a better writer. “Elements of Style” comes close, but King’s book also happens to be a great read whether or not you give a hoot about the way words go together.

Another book I cherish is “Digital Filmmaking” by Mike Figgis, who directed “Leaving Las Vegas.” This book is a big mishmash: In some parts it offers advice on specific technical and artist aspects of filmmaking, but in other parts it’s all about attitude and gearing yourself up mentally for the work ahead.

In certain ways, “On Writing” and “Digital Filmmaking” resemble one another. King and Figgis both preach the virtue of rigorous discipline. King says good writers should write constantly, several hours every day, and when they’re not writing they should be reading constantly. Figgis says you should always have a camera nearby, you should shoot constantly, experiment constantly, and you should know your camera and other gear inside and out.

Figgis says:

“The first thing a solider is taught is how to dismantle his gun and put it back together – make sure it’s clean, make sure it functions – because that’s the thing that will save his life. You don’t want your gun to jam. You don’t want your camera to jam either. If something goes wrong with it, you want to know how to fix it or adapt it. That’s why I always say it’s important to own your camera, because in that way you have a different relationship to it.”

Maybe the gun metaphor is a little off in the age of non-mechanical digital cameras, because I can't imagine being able to fix the electronics of my camera if it broke in the field (or anywhere for that matter) but I get it what's he driving at. How many people actually read the entire manual for their camera, and then learn what every single menu option does?

Figgis also has some interesting ideas on what a “cinema” really is. Regular readers may recall I recently purchased a digital video projector, and this passage from Figgis was part of the inspiration behind that purchase:

“A cinema is any space where chairs can be placed all facing in the same direction; where a white wall or a screen exists, and where a medium-priced digital projector is connected to a DVD player with a couple of speakers. That is a cinema. In a way, this takes us back to the roots of cinema and a time when it was brought to the small towns and villages of Italy by a van.”

Changing topics only slightly here, on Nov. 3 Canon and Red both announced new, affordable digital cinema cameras, small enough to stuff into a backpack and good enough to shoot Hollywood films on. Affordable is a relative term – these cameras will cost between $15,000 and $20,000, plus lenses. But now, just as Figgis envisions, many professional filmmakers will be able to own a camera of a quality that previously they could only rent.

Now, these two cameras weren’t quite as affordable as many independent filmmakers had hoped, but they’re stilling exciting to me, because they mean the cost of the technology continues to drop. Right now, in fact, it seems there are great cameras to choose from no matter what your budget. For about a $1000, you can get a Canon 60D or a Panasonic GH2. For under $5,000 you can get a Panasonic AF100 (which is my current camera aspiration) or a Sony FS100. And for $15,000 to $20,000 you can get one of those new Red or Canon cameras or the Sony F3. In each case, you gain features and additional control as you go up the line, but you can make an outstanding film with any one of them. In other words, it’s a great time to be a filmmaker.

Since the title of this post is "Good Reading," here's one other recommendation: "New Jersey's Sourland Mountain" by T.J Luce is a great read and has served as a wonderful historical resource for me as I work on the Sourlands documentary. One particularly exciting place to jump in is "Chapter 24: Shady Characters."